I had the pleasure of hiring Dan Smith to be the City’s Economic Director in February 2008. Today, I went to his calling hours after he lost his 15 month battle with brain cancer.

Dan and Dave, Summer 2005.

Together, with a handful of others, we made up what Dan liked to call “Team Kent.” This was a group of like minded people dedicated to giving downtown Kent a second chance. I think the whole community was part of Dan’s Team Kent.

It’s safe to say that the success of downtown Kent even exceeded Dan’s compulsively optimistic view of the world. Yet without Dan around to enjoy it, it seems a lot smaller.

It’s not possible to sum up Dan’s legacy in a paragraph or two, his personality and impact was too big to fit within the margins of the page but I feel like his contributions deserve to be honored and I’m happy to offer a few of my favorite Dan stories.

In looking back at what made Dan such a success in Kent I think a lot of it came from the fact that he had so much in common with the community he served. Just like Kent he was an eclectic guy with a REALLY wide range of interests and hobbies. His after hours guitar licks and bad stage jokes were as legendary as the PowerPoint pitches he produced in his day job. He was a competitive soccer player, railroad train buff, and gun enthusiast who could jump out of his suit and into a Hawaiian print shirt in a heartbeat.

Dan was just as comfortable riding his motorcycle and talking about his latest car restoration project as he was helping people write up business plans and explaining investment programs. He was a guy with a blue collar work ethic, strong family values and a Kent State education that prepared him for whatever came his way and helped make him accessible to people from all corners of the community.

Whenever an ambassador was needed to represent Kent, Dan’s name was at the top of the list and he was always first in line to volunteer. That’s just the kind of guy he was; service wasn’t his job it was how he lived his life. That’s a real gift.

I think one of the secrets to Dan’s success was that no matter the setting, he never tried to be something he wasn’t. He was genuine and authentic to a fault. He wasn’t perfect but his imperfections made him real and they became what we loved most about him. He stayed true to himself and the community, and I don’t know if Dan picked up some of Kent’s best traits or if he brought out the best of Kent — either way it was a great fit for both.

Dan inherently understood the privilege of what it meant to serve his community. He took that responsibility seriously but he never took himself too seriously or let the daily grind beat him down. Dan provided our daily dose of optimism and together we used humor to laugh our way out of every insurmountable problem.

I think he’d admit that he was an entertainer at heart and his greatest satisfaction came from putting smiles on people’s faces and joy in their hearts.

On Friday, April 3rd I had a chance to meet with Ohio’s Stimulus Czar, Mr. Ronn Richard, along with team Kent (including Dr. Lefton, Dean Heisler, Dan Smith, Jim Bowling and Mayor Fender) to pitch the investment opportunities ready for the taking in downtown Kent. It was our chance to lay out the vision and plan for downtown Kent that we argued could be an economic engine for the region. Here’s the pitch.

We told Mr. Richard that Kent is ready to deliver on the economic promise of a vibrant university city. As home to Ohio’s 3rd largest university, Kent is rich in the raw material of the new economy and we have much to contribute to the economy and quality of life enjoyed in northeast Ohio.

We went on to explain that the University and the City share a sense of urgency to be a catalyst for an economic revival that leverages the assets and productive capabilities that are well within Kent’s reach to create jobs, build new technologies, spawn entrepreneurship, and be the kind of place people are proud to call home in northeast Ohio. Simply stated we want to put Kent’s assets to work for the region as we compete for Ohio’s future.

Our visit was prompted by our need for stimulus funds to capitalize this project beyond the tipping point and into construction. $10 million dollars is the critical investment threshold needed to make this project move forward immediately. With that level of investment we won’t have to wait for the financial markets to rebound; instead we will be a part of the rebuilding process for sustainable economic growth irrespective of the highs and lows of business cycles and financial markets.

That was the verbal pitch; here it is in writing:

Last, but certainly not least, here’s the master-plan blueprint that we provided for Mr. Richard: Downtown Blueprint

We’re competing with some 23,000 other legitimate needs in Ohio so we’re realistic about our chances for funding. But still, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the University’s leadership I know we made an impact on Mr. Richard. Only time will tell if we can translate that impact into dollars and cents.

Generally, I don’t like talking about detours because they usually mean that some bridge is out or there’s been a traffic accident or even a water main break but in this case I’ll make an exception and celebrate a detour. It’s the detour on Main Street that has been in effect this week as the Phoenix Project construction has needed to tie in their utilities. It looks like the detour will wrap up next week so if you don’t like being inconvenienced I’d recommend sticking to Haymaker Parkway but if you like a slow meandering ride with some great new scenery head to downtown Kent.

NEWS RELEASE

September 24, 2008 CITY OF KENT MAIN STREETBETWEEN WATER STREET & DEPEYSTER STREET

WILL BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE FOR EASTBOUND TRAFFIC MONDAY, September 29, 2008 to THURSDAY, October 2, 2008 FROM 8:00AM UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 5:30PM TO ALLOW FOR UNDERGROUND UTILITY WORK, EASTBOUND TRAFFIC WILL BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE ON MAIN STREET (BETWEEN WATER STREET AND DEPEYSTER STREET) ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 TO THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008 FROM 8:00AM UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 5:30PM.MOTORISTS ARE ASKED TO AVOID THE AREA AND TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL TRAVEL TIME WHEN LEAVING FOR THEIR DESTINATION.

ALL LOCAL BUSINESSES WILL REMAIN OPEN AS USUAL.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, RESIDENTS MAY CONTACT THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT AT (330) 678-8106.

City of Kent , Ohio
James Bowling,
Deputy Director of Public Service

I have to admit knowing Franklin Square Deli Owner Carl Picelle’s love for serpentine road racing I wouldn’t be surprised to see his Porsche 944 doing laps around the Main Street block. Of course, note that the Police will be right behind him so don’t get any ideas.

It’s great to have big dreams and bid ideas working their way through the downtown revitalization pipeline but it’s not homeruns that win the most games — it’s all the little things we do every day that add up to something special. That’s one of Kent’s most distinguishing characteristics — we’ve got big ideas and a big university but it’s still packaged in a small town where the living is easy. Kent’s a place where how you treat somebody can still make a difference. That may sound old fashioned but that personal touch in Kent isn’t lost on visitors and I was delighted to receive an unsolicited testimonial this weekend from an out of towner who had a great experience visiting us. I wish I knew who our unnamed Kent ambassador was but somehow it’s almost better not knowing as the person could be any of us and all of us which is exactly right.

Dave,

Recently my wife and I were visiting Kent because our daughter was starting her first year at Kent State. We had some time so my wife and I decided to visit downtown Kent and get some breakfast and look around. When we were looking for a place to have breakfast, a man who said he was a life long resident of Kent stopped to ask us if we needed help finding something. When we told him we were looking for a place to eat breakfast, he gave us directions to several places and gave us highlights of each places menu.

It was very apparent that he was enthusiastic about the city of Kent and made feel very welcome. I’m sorry that I did get his name, but it says a lot about a city when it’s residents are such good ambassadors.

We enjoyed a good breakfast, a walk around the River Front Park, and the rest of the downtown.

It’s funny, I’ve been a number of different meetings over the last couple of weeks with different people talking about different things but they all pointed out the convergence that they see happening in Kent. Some people referred to Main Street Kent and how the merchants were all pulling together (aka converging) around a goal of revitalizing downtown. Others mentioned the new initiatives coming out of the University and the new spirit of converging the town/gown into a single entity that was simply Kent. We had a speaker offer up that “college downtown’s rock” and Kent in particular is in a position to really benefit from the investor interest (like the Phoenix project or the Fairmount project). I did a post yesterday about the favorable impact rising gas prices has had in getting people to live in smaller, walkable cities like Kent. And then today I bumped into an article that said that more and more students are choosing to live on campus (and spend more money in the town).

Calling the stars aligning or convergence, either way it’s great news for Kent.

With the prospect of more students living on campus I’m hoping that helps reduce the stress on neighborhoods that are home to both students and year-round residents. I keep thinking that with all the construction of new rental units at our edges in the township that the rental market would begin to sort out the lower perfoming or lower quality housing options in favor of the new stuff which would inspire property owners of the smaller party houses to reinvest and hold their tenants to a higher standard to protect their investments — which again should be good news for our neighborhoods.

One of the common themes of Kent State’s academic excellence campaign is student retention. It’s one thing to get a large freshman class, it’s another to graduate one. And face it, four years of student tuition is always better than just 1 or 2 years — so retention is a top priority for the University for a number of reasons. Interestingly there’s a high correlation between students that live on campus and those that graduate. And likewise, commuters tend to drop out long before campus residents.

Perhaps being immersed in the college experience on campus helps build the personal memories and loyalties that are needed to keep kids on track academically towards graduation. But those memories and loyalties don’t just happen on campus and it’s our goal to introduce a whole new generation of Kent students to the Kent community as we update our downtown with new shopping, entertainment and dining experiences.

Plus, I know that Dr. Lefton has made attracting more foreign students to campus a priority. That’s great news as it brings in a lot of interesting cultural experiences to our home town in our own back yards and it brings students that are likely to stay on campus on the weekend and shop and eat in Kent. More shoppers and eaters in Kent goes hand in hand with our goals to give more shopping and eating options in downtown Kent.

Look Who’s Living on Campus

College administrators and housing directors regularly tout the benefits of on-campus living, in an effort to lure more students away from privately owned houses and apartment buildings. Many officials believe housing students on campus improves student life, and they are quick to cite studies that find these students are more likely to succeed academically. Despite these arguments, it used to be a struggle for some institutions to interest students in on-campus housing.

Now, in what some administrators see as a possible response to the recent downturn in the U.S. economy, some of these same institutions cannot keep up with the rising demand of upperclassmen who want to live on campus for a more practical purpose: to save money. While it is too early to tell whether the economy is to blame for this newfound demand, some campus administrators find that it exacerbates an already strained housing system.

This boom comes at a time when many colleges and universities are welcoming larger-than-average freshman classes, most of whom typically require housing. The challenge for these institutions then becomes which group of students to serve, underclassmen or upperclassmen. Anecdotally, institutions such as John Carroll, Bryant and Emory Universities, among others, are reporting that demand for on-campus housing exceed supply, and that most of the unanticipated requests are coming from juniors and seniors.

The rising tide of upperclassmen seeking to live in on-campus housing has caught the interest of the Association of College & University Housing Officers–International. The organization discussed, as part of its annual 2008 conference held in Orlando this week, how to accommodate this growing demand. James Baumann, ACUHO-I’s director of communications and marketing, said he and the organization’s member institutions have taken note of the increase in upperclassmen living on campus. There is an attempt, he said, to balance occupancy among all students who desire space, regardless of their academic year, at insititutions currently not equipped to meet this new demand.

Some colleges have even gone as far as offering financial incentives to freshmen who choose, for example, to live three to a double-occupancy room. This may be represented in an overall discount on annual room and board expenses. Additionally, others have had to convert previously common or storage areas into livable space.

Both are the case at John Carroll University, in University Heights, Ohio, which has an undergraduate enrollment of about 3,000. For the first time in 10 years, John Carroll’s residence halls are over capacity, according to Tonya Strong-Charles, director of media relations there. In particular, John Carroll has seen a stronger interest in on-campus housing for upperclassmen than in recent years. Almost 65 percent of the university’s undergraduates live on campus, said Doreen Riley, vice president for university advancement, adding that she expects this number to grow as the university offers more housing. To explain the boom, Riley listed the everyday concerns of her students.

“Reasons we’ve heard from upperclassmen are cost and budgeting,” Riley said, noting that the rising cost of off-campus living has brought some students back to campus. “With utilities, gas prices and rising food costs, by the time you pay rent, that’s a lot of money.”

Other small, private institutions are feeling the housing squeeze as well. Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., has had to find creative ways to house freshmen so that it can retain space for its upperclassmen. J. Thomas Eakin, vice president for student affairs there, said when housing reached capacity for the first time three years ago, the university negotiated with a local motel to provide space for about 30 students. In the past decade, the number of upperclassmen opting to live on campus has risen from 82 to 87 percent. This growth, Eakin said, is representative of the high retention rate of freshmen in the housing program. During the same period, the proportion of freshman choosing to live on campus grew from 90 to 97 percent.

The “bubble” of students choosing to stay on campus, as he refers to the recent spike in freshman retention, has made the housing of upperclassmen an issue. More of these students eventually want the experience of living on campus in what Eakin said are highly sought-after senior townhouses, imitating the off-campus experience on campus.

“Lots of students who could commute from home want the total experience,” said Eakin, who is not entirely persuaded that changes in the economy solely account for increased upperclass interest in on-campus housing. “There is no question that the cost of driving back and forth is going to be an issue. You can buy a lot of gas for what it costs for room and board. A lot of what you’re seeing was well under way before the squeeze we’re in now, but with energy costs and heating going up, that could certainly drive people back to campus.”

In urban areas, where there is often more off-campus competition for student housing, some colleges are still seeing a spike in upperclass interest in campus housing. Emory University, in Atlanta, with an undergraduate enrollment under 7,000, continues to maintain a long waiting list of upperclassmen and women hoping to live on campus, according to Andy Wilson, director of residence life there. Sixty-eight percent of undergraduates live on campus. A majority of upperclassmen chose university housing, contributing to this figure. Like many of its peer institutions, Emory has more demand for housing than it can supply. Wilson said his office receives regular correspondences from juniors and seniors hoping to making it off the waiting list, something he said did not use to be the case five or six years ago.

“We’re very candid that we don’t guarantee housing, but our students really want that [on-campus] community,” said Wilson of those on the wait list. “We’re hearing from students who don’t want to commute because of gas prices. Our pricing is pretty competitive with off-campus housing, so all things being equal, students want to come back to the community.”

While public colleges typically house fewer students on campus than their private counterparts, some have to respond to a similar demand for more housing, even when they are not heavily marketing additional housing. Georgia Southern University, in Statesboro, has created a market for on-campus housing in a community where students can find private housing very easily, according to Vickie Hawkins, director of university housing. This year, she said, the university purchased and renovated an aging off-campus building to house more upperclassmen. Even before changes were made to the building, students filled up the unit, in addition to the rest of university housing, in three days.

“Students have said that with gas prices at $4 a gallon, [they] are going to rethink how they’re using their vehicle,” Hawkins said, noting that this, in addition to convenience and safety, has further driven interest. “On-campus housing is marketing itself.”

The trend, for some, is seen as a natural progression for public institutions, trying to match the full-time living and learning environment offered by many privates. The Massachusetts State College Building Authority, which manages on-campus housing at nine colleges, has 105 percent occupancy at its facilities, according to its executive director, Ed Adelman. The extra 5 percent constitute re-appropriated space such as study lounges converted into large sleeping rooms. He said this growth does not represent an increase in enrollment as much as it does an increase in the interest of students who are already enrolled. Upperclassmen value community in on-campus housing, Adelman said, but financial considerations play a role as well.

“We’re seeing it across the nation,” Adelman said. “Students want to live on campus. The retention from the first year to the second and persistence toward graduation is greater than those who commute. We’re certainly seeing it at the nine campuses we support. There are a lot of avoided costs for students who live on campus.”